What Film School Will Teach You that You Probably Won't Learn On Your Own

There are lots of people who start in the film industry and have no formal education. They learn as they go and become very good at their craft and really understand how the business works from a practical standpoint, no textbook bullshit. However there are a lot of things they don’t learn and ultimately lose out on because film school can teach you a couple things you won’t learn on the job.

Film History
Despite how boring the classes may be you do learn a lot in film history course and in other classes as well. You start to understand how things came to be and learn to appreciate them more for that. Having film history knowledge also helps you be able to move forward and create your own innovative techniques or break traditional Hollywood rules because you understand the rules in the first place and how to break them, you’re not simply being a rebel without a cause.

The Aesthetics of Filmmaking
Watching enough movies will help you appreciate the aesthetic nature of filmmaking but having someone else point things out to you and explain what they see and how it came to be will give you an entirely new perspective on the film and movie making techniques as a whole. You walk away with a new appreciation for color, sound and composition that you won’t be able to learn while hustling around on set.

How to Write and Talk About Film
Everyone’s a critic, sure. However in film school you learn how to critique film from an educated and sophisticated standpoint. You take apart each part of the film and analyze it separately instead of simply watching a film and stating whether you like or dislike it and which parts those were. You also learn to write about films while in school. This can be very beneficial later on as you move into various aspects of filmmaking or try to make some money on the side by writing a book or articles for publication about the business.

The Business Behind the Business
Your production management course will teach you about the accounting and contractual side of the industry which is of utmost importance to understand because people will try to take advantage of you at one point or another most likely and you need to be able to see that coming and know what you’re getting into before it’s too late. You’ll also be able to read the Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter and have an idea of what they’re talking about with all the "industry" terminology it is written in.

What Film Statistics are All About
Film School also teaches you about statistics; what movie sold the most in gross international product versus domestic box office sales alone. You’ll be able to figure out the investment ratios, returns, percentages and more from classes which you may or may not need to know later on depending on what field you move into.